May 4, 2021
AgBiome adds Krysta Harden, Alison Lawton to Agbiome’s board of directors

Agbiome, a developer of products from the Earth’s microbial communities, announced May 4 that Krysta Harden and Alison Lawton have joined AgBiome’s Board of Directors. These appointments strengthen the company’s mission to feed the world responsibly. The appointments will be effective immediately.

Currently, as president and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC), Krysta Harden leverages experience with agriculture, sustainability, food policy and the federal government to help fulfill USDEC’s mission to promote dairy exports and enrich the well- being of people, communities, and the planet. Prior to joining the USDEC, Harden was VP External Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer at Corteva. Harden has served as the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and was the Chief of Staff for the Secretary of Agriculture under Tom Vilsack in the Obama administration.

Alison Lawton joins the AgBiome board with extensive experience leading and operating biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Most recently, Lawton was CEO of the microbiome company Kaleido Biosciences, leading the company through a successful IPO. Prior to Kaleido, Lawton was COO for Aura Biosciences, X4 Pharmaceuticals and OvaScience. Lawton spent two decades of her career at Genzyme, serving in senior management roles during its growth from a small US company to a global commercial organization with over 10,000 employees. Lawton sits on the Boards of several biotech companies, including: ProQR Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PRQR), Magenta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MGTA), X4 Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: XFOR), Aeglea BioTherapeutics (NASDAQ: AGLE), and SwanBio.

“Krysta and Alison bring significant industry knowledge and company board expertise to AgBiome,” Eric Ward, co-CEO and co-founder of AgBiome, said in a news release. “We’re excited for them to join us to help guide our growth.”

“We are honored to have Krysta and Alison join the Board” said Dr. Marijn Dekkers, Chairman of AgBiome’s Board. “Krysta brings a wealth of experience in governmental and legislative aspects of agriculture, and is a strong proponent of the development of more sustainable farming approaches. Alison has a wonderful track record in the Biotech industry, both as an operating executive and as a board member, having successfully taken several companies through the different stages of growth and scale.”

AgBiome partners with the microbial world to improve our planet. AgBiome discovers and develops innovative biological and trait products for crop protection. The proprietary Gemesos discovery platform efficiently captures diverse, unique microbes for agriculturally relevant applications, and screens them with industry-best assays for insect, disease, and nematode control.

Through its commercial subsidiary, AgBiome develops and sells proprietary crop protection solutions, valued at a $100 billion market opportunity. The first of these, Howler, is a fungicide for disease control in a broad variety of crops.

AgBiome and Genective recently formed a strategic partnership to establish a new leader in insect traits. AgBiome has a global R&D collaboration with Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE: ELAN), to develop nutritional health products for swine. AgBiome’s investors include Polaris Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Fidelity Investments Inc., UTIMCO, Pontifax AgTech, Novalis LifeSciences, Innotech Advisors, Syngenta Ventures, Leaps by Bayer, and Novozymes.

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